Breach Candy's Rs 100 crore plan to grow vertically

Breach Candy hospital, one of Mumbai’s oldest and most prestigious health institutions, has chalked up an expansion plan which includes creating an additional 35,000 sq ft space by replacing one of the buildings in the complex with a highrise.Yogesh Naik&Jyoti Shelar | Mumbai Mirror | October 30, 2016, 23:16 IST

Breach Candy hospital, one of Mumbai’s oldest and most prestigious health institutions, has chalked up an expansion plan which includes creating an additional 35,000 sq ft space by replacing one of the buildings in the complex with a highrise.

The Breach Candy expansion blueprint comes in the wake of three top hospitals – Bhatia, Nanavati and Asian Heart – making public their plans to add capacity as the city’s overstretched health infrastructure struggles to meet rising demand for quality healthcare.

Breach Candy reports 100 per cent occupancy for most of the year and there is a waiting period of two to three days for a bed across all specialities.

The state-run JJ Hospital is also adding a 20-storeyed tower to house its super-speciality wing.

Breach Candy’s chief executive officer N Santhanam said the old MRI building, a ground-plus-two structure, in the hospital complex will be brought down to make way for the multi-storeyed building.

The redevelopment will cost Rs 100 crore and will be completed in two years. The construction work will not impact the 70-year-old hospital’s day-to-day functioning in any substantial way.

Santhanam said the hospital has not yet drawn an estimate of how many extra beds would the new building hold or whether the extra space will be used to create additional intensive care units and operation theatres. The hospital currently has 212 beds.

Industrialist Harsh Goenka, who is the hospital’s chairperson, confirmed that the expansion plans have been approved by the board of directors. “Yes, we are expanding. We are going vertical,” he said.

Review on Nov 2

The hospital’s expansion plans will be reviewed by the state coastal management authority on November 2 and are also being processed at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for various clearances.